Sandigan suspends Negros mayor tagged in judge's slay

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division has ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to preventively suspend the mayor of Ilog, Negros Occidental and eight municipal government employees for 90 days in connection with a graft case against them. 

In a four-page resolution last Sept. 21, the Fifth Division said there is probable cause that Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez and his co-accused violated Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

The case involved the alleged unlawful repair and replacement of the motor engine of a Mitsubishi Pajero service vehicle of the Department of Education in Ilog town. Alvarez allegedly ordered the release of P100,000 for the repair that did not materialize.

Alvarez has been tagged as the mastermind in the killing of Kabankalan Regional Trial Court Judge Henry Arles last April.

The National Bureau of Investigation, along with Arles’ sons Philip and Albert, filed murder charges against Alvarez and six others last July 27 before the Department of Justice in Manila. 

Philip Arles, who furnished the media copies of the Sandiganbayan resolution on Wednesday, said Alvarez’s case before the Sandiganbayan is the reason why his father was killed.

Arles was gunned down by men onboard a tricycle and a motorcycle while he was on his way home to Ilog town last April 24. 

“This case strengthens our statement that we put in our affidavit that this is the (reason) why our father was murdered. The mastermind of the crime suspected that our father was the one who followed up the case with the Sandiganbayan,” the young Arles told reporters at the Commission on Elections provincial office here.

The young Arles is running for congressman against incumbent sixth district Rep. Mercedez Alvarez, the Ilog mayor’s sister. The Alvarezes’ father is incumbent Vice Gov. Genaro Alvarez Jr. who is running for governor in 2013.

The vice governor was also included in the charge sheet, along with Cauayan Vice Mayor Jerry Tabujara, when a new witness surfaced last August. 

The Alvarezes have denied involvement in Judge Arles’ killing, saying the charge was “politically motivated.” 

Lawyer Frank Britanico, spokesman of the Arles family and brother-in-law of the slain judge, told The STAR that they learned about the Sandiganbayan resolution only last week, and that Mayor Alvarez might have received it last Monday.